Souls
by Tigyr
Summary: Extremely loosely based around two lines in the song by the same title written by Rick Springfield


A/N: Written for a friend who needed a pick me up...I don't own NCIS or Rick Springfield's songs but a girl can still dream...lol

Souls

We were best friends you know…Shannon and I. My parents had moved the family to Stillwater in an effort to keep us out of the big city. Momma said that it was too dangerous in the city as so many kids were getting influenced by drugs and alcohol.

Yep Shannon was the first friend that I made. She was visiting her aunt that summer, helping out in her aunt's dress shop because that was the bicentennial and everyone who was anyone wanted new clothes to celebrate and Shannon was an excellent seamstress.

That was the year I met him…the man that Shannon and I used to giggle about. Well, we giggled for a few days, because he was just so darned shy. Then we realized that we liked that about him. That shyness, in those silver blue eyes and earnest face. He was a year ahead of us in high school. He was graduating and heading into the Marine Corps. Shannon actually got to spend some time talking to him when she went home for a few days. He was heading to basic training and actually managed to get him to write to her; once they allowed them to receive letters that is.

Shannon was so pleased when she got that first letter. She ran right over and showed it to me.

"Eve, Eve! Look it's from Gibbs. He wrote just like he promised he would."

That was a big thing with Shannon. Keeping promises. She was afraid that he wouldn't keep his word to her, but he did. That was a step in the right direction as it meant that she wouldn't have to ignore him. One of her key rules was don't make a promise you can't keep.

Shannon was big on rules…her first one or was it her third was never date a lumberjack. Her second one was never date anyone who won't keep his promise. So yeah her first one had to be don't make a promise you can't keep.

Gibbs kept his promise though and soon he and Shannon were pen pals. She showed me most of his letters but I know that she kept a few of them to herself. The more personal ones where he poured out his heart to her. I know about them because she told me; not a real telling just enough to know that when he finally got out of basic training they were dating.

I managed to keep my distance during most of the courtship. I didn't want to spoil things with the way I was feeling about him. It wouldn't have been fair to either of them. They were so much in love that I backed away; locked my heart for years as I watched them date, then get married and then have that beautiful little girl.

Shannon and I kept in touch the entire time they were married…the entire time she was alive. We exchanged Christmas and Birthday cards and then it was on the news…how she and Kelly were killed. Gibbs was devastated…he'd been injured while overseas and barely got home in time for their funerals. As much as I wanted to go to him then, I could see that the grief was too fresh and so was the need for revenge.

A few years ago, I was lucky enough to be serving coffee in the local barista when I caught a glimpse of silver/blue eyes. I couldn't believe it…Leroy Jethro Gibbs was in my coffee shop. My friend Sue and I had opened the shop as a tribute to those who'd fallen in the terrible attack on the twin towers.

Gibbs was actually one of the first customers when I opened up that day. For the first time in years I was glad that I spent a bit extra on those high heels the day before. The extra height allowed me to see above the normal crowd and into the eyes of the man that I'd lost my heart to so many years ago.

He didn't show any sign of recognition then, at least not that day but he started coming in everyday thereafter and soon we started talking. Three months after we met again is when he asked me where he knew me from. I was almost afraid to answer him; I didn't want to give him anymore grief.

"I, Shannon was my best friend in high school."

Recognition dawned in those eyes but he didn't back away. Instead he looked…thoughtful…

"You're Eve. You kept in touch with Shannon for years after we got married."

I nodded and he touched my hand. "Thank you. I know that she valued your friendship."

"I valued hers just as much."

That was the start of our relationship. He came in every morning and ordered a black coffee and then in the evenings he'd wait for me to pick him up outside of NCIS. Three more months pass and on our way home one night he confesses that he liked making his team wonder just who the beautiful redhead was that escorted him home all the time.

"I don't escort you home all the time."

"You could, if you want to; I'm asking you to."

That shy boy of years past was in his eyes again. He's been burned so many times, yet he's asking me to become part of his life. I nod in agreement and we exchange our first real kiss. Not a kiss on the cheek, but a deep soul-searching kiss. When we finally come up for air, we're both panting and I know that I'm blushing to the roots of my hair.

A dream has come true. I've finally kissed the man of my heart; the man I've always loved. A callused hand caresses my cheek and I lean into it. I open my eyes and my breath catches at the love I see reflected in his.

"Thank you, Eve."

My confusion must have shown as he smiles and kisses me again.

"That's for giving me the time to heal; the time to figure out that I could love again, without fear of losing you."

We've entered the house by now and he's pulling me close; holding me closer as our bodies start swaying to a soft tune on the radio. He swings me up into his arms and carries me upstairs.

"Stay with me tonight Eve? If not as lovers, then as friends?"

I nod, wondering just what he's expecting of me. He strips both of us down to our underwear and then pulls me into his arms again.

"When I make love to you, it will be as my wife. For now, I need to hold you, to know that you want to be held by me and loved by me."

"I've loved you for over 15 years Gibbs."

My soft confession brings that smile out, the one that turns my heart into mush. He brushes his lips over mine one last time before slipping us both beneath the covers and pulling me into his embrace. We cuddle close, talking about the past and the present. I don't remember closing my eyes but when I wake, I'm still in his arms curled up against his chest.

His arms are loosely holding me, but the embrace is still there. He didn't let me go all night long. I could get used to this I muse to myself silently. His arms tighten and I look up. He's still asleep, but he's on the verge of waking.

"Shhh…it's okay Gibbs, go back to sleep."

When he does, that's when I know that our world is complete. We've managed to come full circle. As the song once said "Two souls searching for each other, one spirit looking for the other…" we've beaten the clock, and come home.

_Souls_

_(By Rick Springfield)_

_It all started here,_

_She was a girl from the Midwest_

_He was a stranger in strange land_

_Same old story,_

_He came for the glory_

_She came looking_

_For a young man's hand_

_But they found bright lights_

_And endless nights_

_And Men just used her innocent ways_

_He found it all so pretty_

_Hypnotized by the city_

_They lost sight of the reason_

_They lost count of the days_

_And they were two souls_

_Searching for each other_

_One spirit looking for the other_

_Caught between a hard,_

_Hard place and a rock_

_Two souls searching for heaven_

_Rolling the dice_

_Looking for a seven_

_To the tick, tick ticking of time_

_Gotta beat the clock_

_Too many nights on the ledge_

_He acquired a knife's edge_

_Still the city didn't acquiesce_

_To his demands_

_Some nights she cried for pity_

_In the heart of the city_

_The city smacked her hands_

_He met her one endless night_

_Her eyes held a light_

_There was something familiar_

_About the smell of her skin_

_He held her tighter and tighter_

_As he danced inside her_

_She knew from the moment_

_That she let him in_

_They'd been two souls_

_Searching for each other_

_One spirit looking for the other_

_Caught between a hard,_

_Hard place and a rock_

_Two souls searching for heaven_

_Rolling the dice_

_Looking for a seven_

_To the tick, tick ticking of time_

_Gotta beat the clock_

_Beat the clock_

_Beat the clock_

_Beat the clock_

_Two souls_

_Searching for each other_

_One spirit looking for the other_

_Caught between a hard,_

_Hard place and a rock_

_Two souls searching for heaven_

_Rolling the dice_

_Looking for a seven_

_To the tick, tick ticking of time_

_Gotta beat the clock_

_Two souls_

_Searching for each other_

_One spirit looking for the other_

_Caught between a hard,_

_Hard place and a rock_

_Two souls searching for heaven_

_Rolling the dice_

_Looking for a seven_

_To the tick, tick ticking of time_

_Gotta beat the clock_


End file.
